Stranger than Fiction: Real History

[Louanne Learning]

Do you know of an interesting, strange or astonishing fact or event from history? Post it here!

Feel free to use any posted event as a spring board for a story.

(Let's keep away from the politics of current events)

 

[Louanne Learning]

Coca-Cola was invented by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886.

Pemberton was addicted to morphine and looked for a substitute.

It was originally marketed as a "temperance drink" and a "patent medicine" - it could even cure "nerve disorders."

 

[Louanne Learning]

Nowadays, it's women who wear high heels. But high heels were actually first invented by the Persians and it was men who initially wore them into battle.

The Persian cavalry used to hook them into their stirrups while riding to maintain stability during battle. From the 10th century, heeled shoes were known in Persia to make it easier for soldiers to stand up on horseback and fire their arrows.

 

[Luxuria]

The oldest recorded victim of the shaving cream to the face prank (as far as I know) was the Emperor Claudius. (See Suetonius, Claudius 8)

8 1 But all this did not save him from constant insults; for if he came to dinner a little after the appointed time, he took his place with difficulty and only after making the round of the dining-room. Whenever he went to sleep after dinner, which was a habit of his, he was pelted with the stones of olives and dates, and sometimes he was awakened by the jesters with a whip or cane, in pretended sport. They used also to put slippers on his hands as he lay snoring, so that when he was suddenly aroused he might rub his face with them. - Suetonius, Claudius 8 - (Suetonius • Life of Claudius)

If you are wondering what this prank is, let Johnny and Ben demonstrate:

 

[Louanne Learning]

shaving cream to the face prank (as far as I know) was the Emperor Claudius.

it reminds us of our shared humanity!!

 

[Madman Starryteller]

One thing that some complain about is close-quarter fighting in science fiction/future settings. But they seem to forget our own absurd history of dressing up in colourful clothing and standing in lines, firing metal balls at each other before charging.

Our own history is full of absurd and dangerous fighting. There is a reason the phrase "over the top" came into existence when referring to absurd things. It is what soldiers did when they charged enemy trenches in world war one and were mowed down by machine gun fire.

The fighting in my universe may be absurd and over the top, and that's because I take inspiration from our real history.

 

[Naomasa298]

Coca-Cola was invented by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886.

Pemberton was addicted to morphine and looked for a substitute.

It was originally marketed as a "temperance drink" and a "patent medicine" - it could even cure "nerve disorders."

And Fanta was invented by Nazi Germany to replace Coke, which had become unavailable to them, for obvious reasons.

 

[Louanne Learning]

The premiere of Handel's Messiah took place at the Musick Hall on Fishamble Street, Dublin, Ireland, on April 13, 1742.

Here's the Hallelujah chorus

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Yes. Handel wrote Messiah in just three weeks and had it premiered in time for Easter, to raise money for charitable causes, specifically for the Foundling Hospital in London.

On one occasion, Socrates' wife Xanthippe was upset because friends were coming for dinner and all she could afford was very basic food. Socrates replied: "If they are true friends they will understand. If they are not, their opinions don't matter anyway."

On one occasion, Xanthippe first screamed at Socrates, and then throw water over him. Socrates remarked: "Did I not say that Xanthippe was thundering now, and after that I'd get rain?"

A man once asked Socrates if he should marry. He replied: "Whether you do so or not, you will regret it." His own marriage was stormy, so he changed his opinion to: "Every man should marry. His wife will either make him happy or make him a philosopher."

(from The Classical Compendium by Dr Philip Matyszak, 2009)

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Can you imagine living with someone who specialized in relentlessly questioning people in order to expose contradictions in their beliefs? He's lucky she didn't put hemlock in his tea years before Athenian society had had damn all enough of him.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

I know. Socrates was a troll ... but at least he was a well-meaning troll.

Empedocles (c. 494 - c. 434 BC) was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, whose philosophy is known best for originating the cosmogonic theory of the four classical elements (Fire, Earth, Water and Air). He also proposed forces he called Love and Strife which would mix and separate the elements, respectively.

Empedocles challenged the practice of animal sacrifice and killing animals for food, and developed a distinctive doctrine of reincarnation. Some of his work survives, which is more than is the case for any other pre-Socratic philosopher.

However, Empedocles' death is the strangest thing about him. The legend, recorded by Diogenes, is that Empedocles threw himself into Mount Etna to prove to his disciples that he was immortal (since they believed he would come back as a god after being consumed by the fire). The volcano, however, threw back one of his bronze sandals, revealing the deceit.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Tintern Abbey was founded in 1131, the first Cistercian foundation in Wales, and the second in all of Britain.

The charter of love of the Cistercian community, called The Carta Caritatis, laid out their basic principles of obedience, poverty, chastity, silence, prayer, and work. By 1151, five hundred Cistercian houses were founded in Europe.

During the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century, monastic life in England, Wales, and Ireland came to an end. On September 3, 1536, Abbot Wych surrendered Tintern Abbey and all its estates to the King's visitors and ended a way of life that had lasted 400 years.

By the 19th century, the ruins of Tintern Abbey had become a tourist attraction. Below is a photo taken there in 1857.



The Abbey has also been a subject of artwork. Below is Interior by Moonlight, by Peter van Lerberghe, 1812

 

[Louanne Learning]

Tintern Abbey was founded in 1131, the first Cistercian foundation in Wales, and the second in all of Britain.

I always think of the people involved. What would cause a person to seek life at a monastery?

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Lack of interest in freedom, pocket change, sex, stimulating conversation, and a leisurely life?

 

[Rath Darkblade]

In the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, the self-appointed royal expert in the field of sex was the eldest son of Queen Victoria, the future King Edward VII, nicknamed 'Bertie'. But even Bertie had his moments of mishap amidst a lifetime of devoted adultery. So devoted was he to his mistresses, in fact, that at his coronation a special place in the Abbey was reserved for them, which a wit referred to as 'The King's Loose Box'. When Bertie died, his long-suffering wife, the charming and beautiful Queen Alexandra, remarked: 'At least now I'll know where he is.'

Bertie and Alexandra had five children together, so they probably felt they carried out their duty of providing for the future of the royal family. After that, Alexandra retreated into a sexless fantasy world with her young family, while Bertie ignored the little blighters and set off in pursuit of everything in skirts. Paris became his second home and les grandes horizontales, as the best courtesans were known, provided him with all the sensuous enjoyment he needed. Prince Albert's halo probably would've melted at some of the sights that Bertie, his son, saw in Paris.

But if Bertie was a bounder, he was also sometimes a blunderer. In 1874, during one 'visit' the the beautiful Princess de Sagan at her home in the castle at Mello outside Paris, Bertie fell foul of the jealousy of one of the Princess's sons. The boy entered his mother's dressing room only to find a man's clothes lying all over the carpet. Enraged at his mother's conduct, he collected all the clothes, took them outside and threw them into the fountain. A few moments later, the Princess's bedroom door opened and a naked Bertie came into the room looking for his clothes! Even in 1874, Bertie was more portly than the average barrel of beer. Trousers were eventually found for him, but they were bursting at the seams and heaving at the waist when he arrived back at his hotel.

However, Bertie was not a snob in bed. He enjoyed the company of princesses, but also courtesans and the wives of courtiers (like Daisy Brooke, the Countess of Warwick and Mrs. Alice Keppel), who gave him the confidence that he always lacked, because of his mother's emotional neglect as a boy. Queen Alexandra understood this and even became friendly with some of them, especially Alice Keppel. When Bertie was dying in 1910, the Queen notified Alice and asked her to sit with the family during the King's final hours.

One of the funniest stories about Bertie concerns his tryst with the cockney prostitute, Rosa Lewis. Bertie and Rosa were once deprived of a trysting-place, so they went for a very long drive in a closed hackney coach. At the end of the ride, Bertie gave the cabbie a shilling. 'What's this bleedin' bob for?' asked the cabbie, who did not recognize the Prince of Wales, and was not pleased.

'It's your fare, my man,' said Bertie, who didn't keep up with the times.

'A bleedin' bob for two hours' drive and ten miles?!' the cabbie yelled.

Luckily, at this moment Rosa leant forward and gave the cabbie two sovereigns (i.e. two gold coins, each worth one pound sterling). This changed his tune. 'I knowed you was a lady as soon as I seen you,' said the driver to Rosa, 'but where d'you pick 'im up.'

The future King of England loved this story and often told it against himself.

 

[Louanne Learning]

On the morning of February 7th, 1931, Amelia Earhart (July 24, 1897–disappeared July 2, 1937) penned this resolute letter to George Putnam, the man who had proposed marriage to her six times.

Noank
Connecticut

The Square House
Church Street

Dear GPP

There are some things which should be writ before we are married — things we have talked over before — most of them.

You must know again my reluctance to marry, my feeling that I shatter thereby chances in work which means most to me. I feel the move just now as foolish as anything I could do. I know there may be compensations but have no heart to look ahead.

On our life together I want you to understand I shall not hold you to any midaevil code of faithfulness to me nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly. If we can be honest I think the difficulties which arise may best be avoided should you or I become interested deeply (or in passing) in anyone else.

Please let us not interfere with the others’ work or play, nor let the world see our private joys or disagreements. In this connection I may have to keep some place where I can go to be myself, now and then, for I cannot guarantee to endure at all times the confinements of even an attractive cage.

I must exact a cruel promise and that is you will let me go in a year if we find no happiness together.

I will try to do my best in every way and give you that part of me you know and seem to want.

A.E.

Amelia and George were married that afternoon.

 

[Naomasa298]

She could fly, but she couldn't spell medieval.

 

[Louanne Learning]

She could fly, but she couldn't spell medieval.

Yeah, I did a double-take on that word, too. But it wasn't my main take-away. She was ahead of her time, in a lot of ways.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Sounds like she didn't want to get married and did anyway. My take away was, "Why did she bother?"

 

[Naomasa298]

He did have a huge wallet.

And he wrote her autobiography, as well as being a publisher.